The silky sands and the clear warm waters of Zihuatanejo bay stretch out before me. To my right, a large outcropping of volcanic rock with a Mexican flag flying from the highest point, defines one boundary of the nearly 2km. beach of La Ropa, arguably one of Mexico’s premier beaches. Paddle boarders cross the calm…
Category: beaches
RELEASING TURTLES
A baby turtle has a hard life. Only one in one thousand make it to become an adult turtle. Put yourself in their flippers for a moment. First, they must struggle through about 18 inches of sand to get out of the nest. Then, they immediately become prey to a host of predators before they…
VIGNETTES OF VIETNAM PART 2 SAIGON, THE DELTA & PHU QUOC
As our bus to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)was approaching the city, this was the view from the window. It could be any modern western city. Once we actually arrived, I quickly learned that this was only part of the story. Saigon is the most modern and westernized of the cities of Vietnam, but that…
THE “ALMOST” PUERTO RICAN
I was four and a half years old when my family moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Puerto Rico. One of my earliest memories is the frustration of not being able to play with the kids in the neighborhood because I couldn’t understand them. Within six months, I was fine. I was out there explaining…
VIGNETTES OF VIETNAM
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this is a very long blog. This weeks offering is mostly photos with some brief commentary where necessary. All of the pictures were taken between early October and December 2018. After an exhausting twenty-two-hour travel time , our first meal in Vietnam had to be pho….
THE TEMPLE OF THE TURTLE
It’s midnight. Just two days after the full moon. Visibility should be good. I’m at Campamento Tortuguero Ayotlcalli. Ayotlcalli is a Nahuatal word which translates to temple of the turtle. A Honda four-wheeler pulls up next to me with my guide for the night, Felipe Campos Crispin. We are setting off in search of turtle…
THE CHINCHORRERAS GIFT
I was a senior in high school in January 1961 when John F. Kennedy gave his inaugural speech that included the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Those words resonated with me. That same year, and in the same spirit, Kennedy established the…
ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO
As I lay in my hammock watching the sunset paint the sky behind the green hills that surround the fishing village of Zihuatanejo, I realize just how lucky I am to be living here in this tropical gem. The movie “The Shawshank Redemption” was what made this small village on Mexico’s Pacific coast known. The…
A Mexican Bar You Must See!
THE LAGOON Barra de Potosi. The bar in its name is not one that serves alcoholic beverages, but rather, refers to the sand bar that closes off the saltwater lagoon in the dry season. The lagoon ringed with mangrove trees houses a variety of tropical aquatic birds, crabs, tasty fish, and some crocodiles. The crocs…